
Thought Leadership
We think a lot about risk—and ways to manage it—in a variety of ways. From rising concerns to best practices to exposure assessments, we're sure you’ll find our expert insights valuable.
It’s never too early to talk about risk with your children
Parents understand the importance of teaching their children essential life skills, from safe driving to financial literacy, but many might not think to include crucial lessons around risk management. Yes, you counsel to look both ways before crossing a street and to be wary of strangers, but how about conversations around the potential liability and repercussions with certain behaviors and actions? As risk management experts, we think a lot about how best to educate the next generation about these topics and regularly help families do just that. To encourage you to do the same, we have provided some ways to help you educate your children about risk management. Educating Tweens & Teenagers about Risk Management It is never too early to make kids aware of the fact that their actions can impact the entire family—both your assets and reputation. But this age range is when their choices begin to matter. To that end, you want children this age to: Understand the perils of social media The majority of American children are already carrying smartphones by the time they are 11, and kids even younger use social media. New phone or new account, this access is best ushered in with a conversation about the consequences of posting something defamatory or bullying by text. Helping your kids understand that nothing they put or send online is private, and that unfortunately, you can be held responsible for all of it. (This article details why it’s important for the whole family to be careful with social media.) Avoid throwing out-of-control parties When kids hold parties while parents are away, they most likely don’t know that their parents could still be held responsible if something goes awry. That’s why it’s important to tell your children about “social host laws,” which hold the entire family responsible for incidents involving drugs and alcohol at their home, even if the parents were unaware. We also recommend you warn children against drinking games because if someone gets injured or dies from alcohol poisoning, a court could find they encouraged risky behaviors. (Here are some suggestions on how to mitigate the risks of teen drinking.) Practice defensive driving The day your child gets their learner’s permit is the day you should start accentuating the perils of driving, and, in particular, driving while under the influence. But you also need to teach them how to act in the event of an accident, even a minor one. For example, even a casual “sorry” could be seen as an acknowledgment of fault, or an admission like, “I wasn’t paying attention.” (See this article for more tips post-accident.) Educating College Students about Risk Management They may still be in school, but your child is technically no longer a minor. And that means their actions can have more significant consequences. As such, your college-aged child needs to: Understand that they are now more responsible for their actions Up until now, you have likely had ultimate responsibility in most situations but now is when you can help with the transition. For example, educating your children to report any broken items in their “new” residence in a timely manner will minimize their risk of having to pay for any of these damages. Remind them that though the car they are driving is registered in your name, they still will be implicated if anything goes wrong while they are behind the wheel. And alert them to the aforementioned risks of hosting a party, particularly those connected with underage drinking. Understand that their family may still be liable for what they do Though your college student may be away from home, as long as they remain your dependent you remain accountable for their actions. This liability extends beyond the obligations that come with signing or co-signing a lease. (In fact, parents might be liable even if it is only the child’s name on the lease, should a court determine them to be in your custody.) Parents have also been held responsible for their children’s involvement in harmful, or hazing incidents. Be especially careful when studying abroad For many students, a semester abroad is a rite of passage. To help ensure it is a wonderful experience, we recommend making a copy of all important documents to ease replacement in the event they are lost or stolen and providing your child with a list of local contacts—family as well as school administrators—who can act as local advocates in the event of an emergency. Also, it’s worth reminding them to always follow local protocols and laws. Your children are fortunate to have parents who are concerned about their ongoing welfare and willing to be engaged in helping them navigate risks. As they say, it takes a village, so as always, we are available to assist in this education process at any stage of your child’s life. ...
Read in 4 minutesThe impact of natural disasters on the insurance industry
With predictions of another season of significant weather events in the air, it’s important for us to give you an update on the current insurance landscape. The insurance industry is constantly evolving due to many factors and our goal is to keep you fully informed so you can better understand what is happening, why, and what you can do to mitigate the impact on your insurance program. The insurance industry is in the midst of a correction that largely began in California a few years ago and continues to spread across the country, particularly to regions most susceptible to wildfires, hurricanes, and other catastrophic climate events. Despite this, Americans continue to move into these areas, and that has put a serious strain on insurance carriers, which, in turn, is increasingly impacting even less-vulnerable areas. In the past five years, the U.S. has experienced 89 weather-related events that caused at least $1 billion in damage, and that trend is not abating. In 2022 there were 18 separate billion-dollar events making it the third most costly year on record for hurricanes, freezes, severe storms, wildfires, and floods. Floods, in fact, are the country’s most frequent and costliest natural disaster, now occurring often in areas not previously considered to be high-hazard ones. All of which means premiums continue to climb higher, non-renewals are more common than ever, and it is increasingly difficult to obtain coverage, wherever you live across the country. This is no doubt, frustrating news to clients but does have a silver lining: Several years of navigating this market has made our team extremely well equipped to guide you through its challenges and find creative solutions best fit for your unique needs. Three factors driving the market correction Insurance carriers engage in a constant struggle to sustain an economic model that allows them to pay the broadest number of claims. This moment in time remains a particularly tricky one for them because … 1. Capacity is low. Today’s carriers are significantly overexposed after decades of securing increasingly expensive homes in areas that have borne catastrophic losses from weather events. Even premiums that may seem unreasonably high to individual policyholders do not sufficiently cover carriers’ aggregate risk. Not only has this overexposure made carriers tighter with rates, but it has also made them more likely to refuse coverage altogether. This is the case in affected and unaffected areas alike, especially for owners of older homes that are not fitted with the latest protections or do not meet current building codes. A similar reluctance is occurring in areas like New York City, where aging infrastructure makes carriers wary. 2. Reinsurance costs are high. If carriers were left to pay off losses solely with the money they took in from premiums, insurance would be unsustainably expensive. That’s why they support their own exposure with reinsurance, essentially, coverage for losses they can’t cover on their own. Reinsurance guarantees carriers have enough cash no matter the cost of a loss. That said, the current combination of increased catastrophic events and heavier concentrations of multi-million-dollar homes in vulnerable areas impacts both insurance and reinsurance carriers. In fact, so drastically, reinsurance is now much costlier than before. When those rates rise, it makes it that much more complicated and expensive for carriers to provide adequate coverage for clients. There comes a tipping point when reinsurance becomes just too costly, especially government-regulated ones that are required to carry a certain surplus. 3. Inflation is making everything worse. The cost of replacing almost everything is significantly higher these days. Labor and materials are at sky-high prices because of ongoing supply-chain issues and skilled-worker shortages. Vehicle repair costs, to take one example, have risen steadily, and faster, in the past two years. The latest premium appliances may be more technologically advanced, but that also makes them more expensive. Much more basic materials such as paint, lumber, roofing and plumbing are pricier, too. And these costs continue to climb higher after a catastrophic event which puts pressure on available resources. Smart risk management strategies We continue to provide innovative solutions to help protect you and your belongings. But we also want to put you in the best possible position to ride out these challenging times. Specifically, we recommend that you… Do everything in your power to avoid a loss. Yes, accidents and climate events will unfortunately happen, but you can better prepare your home and property for both. Simple pre-emptive steps such as creating a brush-clearance zone in a wildfire-prone area or undergoing a windstorm mitigation inspection in storm-heavy areas are crucial. We can also help you schedule walk-throughs with professionals, who will spot potential trouble areas and recommend preventative measures. Likewise, we encourage you to embrace the available technology to minimize the likelihood of water loss or wind damage such as water leak detection devices and more. Protect your insurance coverage. A history of previous claims, even a short one, is often a strong predictor of premium hikes and non-renewals. It can also make it more difficult to secure new coverage. Thus, we encourage you to speak with your insurance professional prior to making any potential claim, so we can help you decide how best to proceed. (In some cases, that means taking on the expense yourself if possible.) Choose coverage strategically. If, as we suggest, you plan to file claims only in the most onerous scenarios, you can lower premiums by choosing higher deductibles. Other situations may call for you to self-insure or partially insure. For example, if your home has the best-possible wind protection and you do not carry a mortgage, foregoing wind coverage to make the premiums more reasonable might be a viable option. Contact us before signing a contract on a home: If you are considering buying in a risky geographic area, your broker can tell you if you will be able to purchase coverage—and whether the cost will be prohibitive. We understand that this is an extremely challenging market, but we are confident that we can help guide you to make it more manageable. If you have any questions about the current state of the market or whether your personal portfolio is adequately protected, please know we are always here to help guide you and your family. ...
Read in 6 minutesRisk management takeaways for successful families
The most successful family enterprises, namely those with single family offices whose wealth results from the private ownership of a business, have managed to sustain significant holdings through multiple generations. This feat necessitates navigating many different risks over long periods of time which offers valuable risk management lessons for any successful family, enterprise or not. Recently, we conducted our Family Enterprise Risk Index, a landmark survey of 145 family enterprises across the country, to better understand their current outlook on risk, along with what risk management practices are in place. We compiled the findings for the most relevant lessons that can help you and the many successful families, who are not part of a family enterprise, better improve their risk resiliency. The learnings below are based on our comprehensive analysis and include best practices for risk management that all high-net-worth households should consider. Takeaway 1: The person who oversees risk management is too often not a risk management expert. Our index uncovered that most of the family enterprises surveyed do not employ a risk management specialist, despite the challenging and changing landscape. In fact, 70% put risk management in the hands of an executive who also provides services such as tax preparation, bookkeeping and administration, insurance purchasing, investment management, philanthropy and trustee services. While we certainly don’t expect you to hire a full-time risk manager, it is still important to note based on this finding, that whoever is working with your insurance broker, whether that is a family member or an advisor, likely has many other tasks on their plate as well. From our experience, that means things like annual reviews, scheduling collectibles and updating beneficiaries may be delayed or could be overlooked. The solution: We send out regular communications about risks and insurance matters to keep you informed and we also encourage setting up annual reviews with your insurance advisor. Having an expert that you rely on, and that you can consult regularly, is invaluable. Takeaway 2: Family risks and educating the rising generation are not necessarily priorities. Among the most concerning findings of our study: more than 76% of respondents had no systematic or regularly scheduled risk-review process for the family. Furthermore, 41% conducted reviews on an ad-hoc basis only, and another 30% failed to conduct them at all. This leaves the family (and the enterprise) vulnerable. Even more concerning, of those respondents that conduct either an ad-hoc or annual risk review, we found that 63% do not have an education process in place for the rising generations. And yet, as risk experts, we know that children, especially teenagers, bring specific challenges to the intergenerational table: problematic social media presences, unsupervised parties, car accidents, even issues related to apartments or hazing incidents in college. If such a lapse in focus occurs even in enterprises with the most to lose from it, we feel it is essential to remind every one of our clients to find time to discuss risk as a family. The solution: Rising generations need to be educated about risk and the potential impact of their indiscretions not only to their own lives but to your family’s well-being, too. In our experience, these conversations are the best way to improve risk resiliency. Families should meet each year to review coverage and make sure all is accounted for. (Your insurance advisor will always be happy to lead this conversation.) Likewise, parents should discuss with their children the various exposures they can, unwittingly, subject the family to, periodically at the dinner table and pointedly around life milestones, such as getting a driver’s license. Takeaway 3: Even when families do talk about risk, they often miss key vulnerabilities. Of the eight family-related risk areas surveyed, most respondents only had a plan in place for managing domestic staff. In fact, just around one-third of respondents had a plan in place for all other situations, which include concerns like travel emergency preparedness, emergency preparedness for natural disasters and family reputation management. These findings could potentially leave families within the enterprise vulnerable to a number of risks. The solution: When you are assessing your risk with family members or advisors, be sure you are looking holistically at all areas of risk. Additionally, confirm your insurance program adequately considers your current situation and covers all your exposures. Has your property become more susceptible to natural disasters? Have you sufficiently shielded yourselves from reputational damage? Are you covered if someone gets into trouble or falls ill while traveling abroad? These days, every successful family should understand that they are navigating a more diverse and complex set of risks due to the increase in natural disasters, cybercrimes, public health crises and the like. Even those who you would expect to be best positioned to deal with the evolving landscape, such as family enterprises, fall short in some areas. We can all learn a lot from their reality. Please contact us with any questions or concerns about your own risk management program. ...
Read in 5 minutesFeatured topic: Summer risks
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